British Airways advertising; are they bonkers?

I keep seeing the latest British Airways advert on the telly, which is one of the multitude backing the Olympics.

So far so good, nice to see big companies supporting Team GB *but* the tagline is......



Eh

What next? EDF energy saying "Proud to be the official energy suppliers to the games, now switch off your telly to save power" ?

Surely the whole point of an advert is to get people to use your service, or am I just a bit naive here?


Oh, and I know now why the southerners have an hosepipe ban......all the water is in the new Olympic swimming pools and water sports facilities!

Glad I'm not alone here, I saw that and thought 'what the Dickens are they on about?!'

'Where shall we go this year, Spain? Portugal? Italy?'
'Well British Airways said we shouldn't fly, and that we should stay here in this sodden country and support team GB'
'Oh, Ok then.'

At least the flights will be nice and empty for Staff travel

People talk about the advert (just like we're doing), and say, "Hey, what a great bunch of guys BA are - willing to support Britain ahead of their own profits. Let's fly with them, rather than those Mick or Kebab-munching airlines, even though it will cost us a kidney each".

Nail on the head there. Next time you fly they will be in your head. Whether the ad works or not time will tell. Brand awareness however will be on the up.

Another case of oneupmanship in the form of what is being touted as "CSR" - corporate social responsibility. It kind of took off apace after Nike got caught & condemed using child labour and their PR machine failed to deal with it decisively and instead they compounded the problem before getting a grasp of it. Whereas now firms like BA not only have their PR guys ready and poised with a response that Max Clifford would be proud of should anything go wrong, but they're now one step ahead so that that the public's mindset is - look how responsible, kind and nice they all are.

BP have rather a lot of CSR to make up after the gulf spill. But their stand I saw on Friday's festival of speed was a marvel of green, safe, environmentally fluffy, cuddley, friendlyness - a joy to behold!

I think it's beginning to get slightly suspicious now with the firms that invest the most in this area starting to look like they've got the most to hide.

And while I'm on it, those firms that use the tag like "We're passionate about ..." wind me up the most.

Oh. My. Gawd!


Are you telling us that BA use child labour to power the engines in their aircraft?

(I now have this picture of a cramped compartment on each side of the aircraft where they hide kids on bikes all linked by one long pulley and chain to the turbines! )

Don't be silly. That's why there's more leg-room up at the front; they can see where they're going and have more incentive to pedal.

Doh! I should have thought of that!

Next you'll be telling me they are in a pressurised part of the tub and even have access to luxuries, like oxygen?

Nobody seems to have picked up on the worst, unforgivable aspect of the latest BA ad: the use of London Calling by The Clash. Anyone with the slightest idea about the provenance and meaning of the song would laugh their cock off at the idea of it being used to promote a commercial interest - especially in London! Joe Strummer must be spinning like a jet engine in his grave.

I did pick up on it immediately when I heard it Jim, just didn't mention it in the thread, but his "estate" will be rubbing their hands with glee at the royalty cheque, ergo perhaps he is actually having the last laugh from that great mosh pit in the sky?

The Skids <> Halfords

Maybe explain the meaning of the song to us 'youngsters'?

Here you are.

I must admit, sheepishly, to pulling out my vinyl collection* after hearing those two adverts.

The Skids and The Clash haven't aged badly at all, just a pity the same cannot be said of Toyah or Lene Lovich






*I'm talking about records, what we used to listen to before CDs and MP3s not my Saturday night wear......

He's talking about Edison Wax Recording Cylinders, which is what he used to use before he upgraded to 78s last year...